D R Horton

[Annette in Bee Cave]

I'm looking for more information on DR Horton homes in the Northwest Austin area. Specifically Montebella, off of Hamilton Pool Road. The reviews are very scary and may be enough to make me change my mind on a buying a DR Horton home.

[marz1955]

Hi Austin - Steve, thanks for the feedback. I am considering a DR Horton home and my question is twofold:
How are the craftsman type homes holding up in resale value? For example the homes in Forest Oaks in Cedar Park, Texas? I am looking at the Turtle Creek and Town Center.

Also, can you refer a 3rd party PM/Inspector for Round Rock / Cedar Park?
Thanks again!

[tickledpink]

We have a DR Horton home in Cedar Park Town Center, so I just wanted to chime in. We have been living in our home for nearly a year. We have had no major issues. Things we had fixed within a month of moving in:

--There was a drain pipe somewhere in the roofing area that wasn't sealed properly and caused a water spot to appear on our ceiling. We noticed it within a week of moving in and it was a quick fix.

--The enamel on our bathtub was chipped

--Our master bathroom sink was leaking

-- The damper for our zoned heating/cooling didn't open and close properly (was bent) so we had that replaced.

I just had the warranty crew back out a few weeks ago to fix a few mud/tape line cracks on the ceiling, adjust the installation of our door and replace a cracked tile in our kitchen.

Other than that we have had no issues. My sister lives in the same neighborhood and has owned her home for 7 years. The ONLY problem they've had is their AC unit went out. It was about 5 years after they moved into their home. It was no longer under warranty, but they got it replaced for free because a bunch of the units failed on her street/in the homes that were built around the same time... so it was evident they were installed wrong.

We're debating having a 3rd party inspector out withhin the next week or two before our warranty expires in November, but aren't sure if we will or not. It's a few hundred dollars.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by marz1955

How are the craftsman type homes holding up in resale value? For example the homes in Forest Oaks in Cedar Park, Texas? I am looking at the Turtle Creek and Town Center.

You can check them out on Austin Home Search. I'm amazed at some of the deals that I see on DR Horton homes in both Cedar Park Town Center and Forest Oaks. Both seem like really nice neigbhorhoods (I drive through them often during the day) and I routinely see DR Horton homes under $160K in both neighborhoods. There are 3 resale DR Horton homes (all pending) in Forest Oaks listed under $160K. There are 3 resale DR Horton homes (all active) in Cedar park Town center listed under $163K. For their ages, these DR Horton homes seem to be selling well below the competition in these general areas. A few of these sub-$163K homes are around 1800 square feet and they feed into good schools. These are either great bargains, or could be a headache down the road due to build quality. They are definitely tempting as those are great areas of Cedar park.

Just my opinion, but unless you need to be over in the Turtle Creek area of Round Rock for a specific reason, I would focus on the two Cedar Park neighborhoods over Turtle Creek.

[BriansZ]

We leased a new DR Horton home in Town Center for a year after we moved down here. We moved out September 1st once the house that we had built was finished. The house we had in Town Center was nice, but it didn't seem to be the most efficient. I definitely noticed a change in temperature throughout the house, and I could feel air moving around the doors. Also, it seems like about 50% of the people that I talked with were leasing houses. I don't know if that matters to you or not, it was just an observation. The houses out there are very inexpensive for a new home, and they seem to have no problem selling them. My kids and I did enjoy the pool over this past summer.

Overall it was a nice neighborhood. It would be great for a first-time buyer. It is close to some shopping, but I'm not sure if there is walking access to 1841 Ranch.

[fentonc2003]

We had a house built by DR Horton and we love it. The only problem is the pluming. If you make big #2s, you need to go with a different home builder. If you have a DR Horton home, here is how to flush the toilet when it backs up: (even without ANY TOILET PAPER)

Fill two different sinks with hot, hot water, then pull the stopper for the sinks and repeat until the toilet clog is gone. Keep flushing the toilet until the clog passes. Plungers do nothing for the pluming in these homes; it only pushes air out the vent on the roof. Maybe it was the undocumented workers who lack the skills to put these homes together?

The pluming is the only thing we don't like about our home. Everything else is fantastic. We get toilet clogs at least once a week and it happens even without toilet paper.

[PittsburghAustin]

Don't know if this is helpful because of the age of the original post, but might be helpful to someone else. I purchased a home in Cedar Park Town Center about six weeks ago. Cheapest and smallest in the plan. There are some minor problems because some of the subs just rush too much to get the job done. Unfortunately this is the problem with all the home builders now as there is so much building going on in the area.
I am happy and they have fixed any problems I have had. I would buy again from them if I wanted another home. This is the fourth home I have built, three in PA and you are at the mercy of the sub crews you get. This is is the same in a $500,000 house as a $200,000 house. The same subs that worked on my house go down the street to work on one $100,000 more. I also see the some sub companies at other builders sites.
As a side note, some of the lumber that is used in any home built by any builder now is stuff I would toss to side at Home Depot.